I have a little boy, and it follows that my mom friends mostly have other boys. I’m not as aware of the issues that mothers of little girls have. At this point, (my son is almost 8), it seems like they have it easier than we do. Little girls are calmer, they play quieter and stay still for longer periods of time, and they even seem to bug their parents less. (Not that I’m complaining, my son is awesome and amazing.) The grass is always greener, and I know I’ll be grateful that I have a boy once he hits his teen years. This story reminds me of some other advantages of having a boy.

Apparently Elizabeth Hurley has created some bikinis for little girls (an extension of her bikini brand for adult women) that are drawing criticism for being too sexy, basically. I don’t see the big deal, but again I have no clue and am out of my element even discussing this. The same might be said of Elizabeth Hurley, since she has a little boy and no girls. Some child protection watchgroups are up in arms:

Actress Elizabeth Hurley calls her line of swimwear for girls “fun” on her website. But parents along with a child protection charity in the U.K. have had a different reaction — they’re accusing Hurley and her brand of sexualizing young girls.

“It is very disturbing to see some inappropriate items in this swimwear range,” Claude Knight, the director of the charity Kidscape told the Daily Mail.

Knight points out pieces like the “Mini Cha Cha Bikini,” an animal-print two-piece for girls under 8 and the “Collete Bikini,” a suit that is held together by a gold ring and is meant specifically “for girls [ages 8-13] who want to look grown up.” According to the company’s website, “This bikini looks fab with our cheetah ruffled skirt.”

Siobhan Freegard, founder of the community Netmums told the Daily Mail that she knows “a number of mothers who are concerned about the sexualization of their children and would be horrified by their daughters dressing like mini-strippers.”

And, their concerns are validated by science. A recent study found that girls as young as 6 think of themselves as sex objects and want to be considered sexy. In an earlier study, Psychologists named clothing as a factor that encourages these youngsters to objectify themselves. This research was particularly disturbing given that “almost a third of girls’ clothing for sale at 15 major retailers [had] sexualizing characteristics.”

Knight told Sky News that Hurley shouldn’t take all of the blame now. Rather, the fashion industry should stop making clothes for kids that are so adult-like.

Jen M.L., a mother of two who blogs at “People I Want To Punch In The Throat” agrees on that front. In a HuffPost blog, Jen says she is “horrified” by clothing selections when she takes her 4-year-old daughter shopping. She recounts a specific Easter shopping trip when “there were several dresses that looked like they should come with a complimentary pole and hooker heels!” But, Jen doesn’t blame the industry entirely. She also writes that consumers — parents specifically — should stop buying and supporting the production of such items. “If we’d just stop buying this misogynistic whore-wear maybe companies would stop trying to sell it to us.”

With regard to Hurley’s line, a spokesperson told the Daily Mail that the collection has sold “extremely well.” He added, “Most of our customers are repeat customers who report that their kids adore the designs.”

A search on “bikinis for little girls” shows that suits like the ones in Hurley’s line are all too common. The difference I’ve found is that other bikini lines for girls don’t show the little girls modeling them, they just show the suits on mannequins or laying on a flat surface. So in that respect I can see why they’re being criticized. Plus, they’re using animal prints straight out of Jersey Shore. I don’t think this issue is unique to Hurley’s line at all, as the article mentions, it’s just how the clothing industry is headed and it’s a disturbing trend. Whatever happened to one-piece bathing suits and superhero costumes? I had a Wonderwoman bathing suit when I was a little girl. I thought I was badass.

I asked one of my friends who has a nine year-old daughter to comment on this story. She wrote “It’s not bad at all. Don’t ban the suits. Ban the perv that looks at em funny.”

The suits are cute, but given the pervs out there, if I were a mother to a girl, I’d be uncomfortable that those images are so public and on the internet for everyone to see. It’s perfectly innocent photos but you just never know who is out there looking at it in a different way…

I recently read that about a Boston pediatrics doctor, who also taught at Harvard, got arrested for child pornography. I’m just saying you really never know what is out there…

i 100% agree. If I had a little girl I really don’t think I’d let her get a 2 piece until she was 11 or 12, when they are old enough to run and know that men can harm them. Not that there aren’t predators out there that specifically go after pre-teens, of course, but, I dunno. you never know and there are so many sickos out there.

I have a three year old daughter and my own personal preference is no bikini’s. I feel like they were created to show off a woman’s body not a child’s. When she hits her teen years it will probably be something we discuss with her. I don’t judge mother’s who like them for their child but mine, nope.

She doesn’t wear a one piece either, I like the little shorts and sun top combo better sun protection.

i don’t see a problem with these swimsuits. they’re cute. baby girls in bikinis are adorable, imo. a pedophile’s gonna be looking at your kid, whether they’re wearing normal clothes or a swimsuit. clothes are NOT gonna make a difference. this is like saying i shouldn’t wear a miniskirt, ’cause i might be so attractive as to drive a man to rape me.

I agree. My little girl looks so cute in her little bikini. Given the way toddlers and babies grow in spurts, and the strange way some baby clothes fit, a bikini just makes a lot more sense than a one piece. Besides, do you really want to have to strip a wet one piece suit off a kid to change her diaper? or rush her to the potty?

My girls won’t be in bikinis until they can purchase them on their own with the money they earn from their job. I didn’t wear my first one until I was 17. Modesty is healthy attribute to have, especially about one’s body.

I’m a mom to a baby girl myself and EVERYTHING is animal print lately so it doesn’t bother me it’s adorable and as long as she’s around good people I don’t believe in the harm – they have tiny bikinis for little girls as well – not just animal print as a parent you have to decide for yourself

^This^ — She’s selling cute swimsuits, not a sexy image… Unlike those moms on Toddlers & Tiaras who dress their little girls in sexy revealing outfits and high heels and instruct them to act sexy. IMO that’s wrong/trashy. This is just fashion.

I freely admit that I’m a total prude about clothes for my little girls. So far they haven’t disagreed when we say no to things like bikinis (but we give reasons like “those are more for laying in the sun, not playing in the pool”).

These are no more offensive than the other clothing options out there for little girls. I’m personally more concerned that the current standard length for kids nightgowns is upper thigh. Wtf?! My kid wants to sleep like a four year old not a VS model!

I’m pretty conservative with my girls clothes as well and I live in L.A.! You can find two piece swim suits that are tankinis instead of bikinis and they cover more while still making it easy for potty runs. My daughter can wear a bikini when she’s old enough to drive to the store in her own car and buy one with her own money.

And yes, what is it with nightgowns being more like night shirts these days?!

Ladies, I feel the same way. I will dress my little girl more modestly. When she’s older and wants to buy her own bikini in high school or something, that’s fine. Until then, she can wear one pieces or tankinis.

I guess to me, I wear a bikini to look sexy. It isn’t about function, etc., so I tend to view bikinis on little girls as attempted sexualization.

My daughter is only 5 months old so I haven’t encountered the nightgown issue yet–and since she’s 99% for height, I guess we’ll have an issue there

ITA. I have boys and my objective is to keep them looking as innocent and sweet as possible. They are 2 and 3 and I still dress them in John-Johns and rompers. If I had a little girl it would be the same. Once my 8 yo niece came over to stay and swim and brought an innapropriate bikini and i brought her straight to the store and bought a suitable one. Then i called my sister and said not to send her here with that crap again. why make them grow up sooner than they already do?

ITA. I have boys and my objective is to keep them looking as innocent and sweet as possible. They are 2 and 3 and I still dress them in John-Johns and rompers. If I had a little girl it would be the same. Once my 8 yo niece came over to stay and swim and brought an innapropriate bikini and i brought her straight to the store and bought a suitable one. Then i called my sister and said not to send her here with that mess again. why make them grow up sooner than they already do?

If people are concerned about pervs, they shouldn’t let their kids out in swimsuits generally. I think Liz’s bikinis look like all the rest on the market for girls. I’m not a fan of the leopard print but I don’t think it looks like “mysogynistic whore wear”

Totally agree. I don’t get this whole bikini’s are to blame for sexualization of little girls. I’ve NEVER thought of that when we wore them when I was little nor when I’ve seen a cute little baby/toddler in one. I realize people are freaked out about pervs – but pervs are everywhere – they’re gonna think their pervy thoughts no matter what.
Obviously we need to protect our children and be logical (kids are innocent children – so they should not be made up to look like little adults, i.e., no makeup, no inhancers in swimwear, no high heals, etc.). Some parents are going to be dumbshits no matter what and dress their kids in inappropriate ways but the majority of people know the difference. This bikini thing has been blown way out of proportion IMO.

This is a tough one for me. My mom was very strict about what showed, only letting me have 1-pc & tankini bathing suits, & only letting me wear shorts that came down to where my fingertips came when my arms were down at my sides. (I should add, I have monkey long arms to begin with, not to mention long fingers. These saw to it that my shorts were almost down to me knees.

That actually lasted alllll the way through highschool. She was definitely too strict, & it frustrated the hell out of me.

I don’t know how I feel about these suits. There’s nothing at all sexy about the one piece… but I do think the bottoms of the bikinis stop a little low on their hips.

OK, this is exactly what I was thinking.
I’ve seen little girls with bikini tops for years and the argument about changing clothing and going to the bathroom makes sense to me. But those bottoms are cut way too low. They don’t have to be waist high, but an inch or so below the navel is plenty low.

I have a daughter (2.5 yo going on 25 with an attitude) but I don’t see anything wrong with these bathing suits. My daughter has a cute little camo bathing suit but the bottoms are shorts and she has a one piece. She looks adorable in both. My mother and I were discussing this and she said ” maybe some of these people should question themselves about why they think there is anything sexy about these pictures or little girls.”

Swim suits are a constant struggle for us mothers of almost Tweens. I can’t tell you how much time I spent this summer looking for a two piece that my girl and I would both agree on. She adores animal prints and would love these. Not enough covering to appease Mom though!

I have a problem with what we are doing to our little girls. One might be tempted to say it’s harmless, but I think it’s sexualizing them too young. I have a one year old and the only shorts I can find for her are booty short, up to her butt cheeks. But for my boys? Shorts to their knees. Let them be kids for as long as possible, soon enough they will want that stuff for themselves.

I have the same problem — the only shorts you can find for girls are super short — and the ones for boys are nice and long. My daughter is just 7 and I wouldn’t even send her out in our quiet neighborhood on her bike wearing such short shorts. Luckily she’s totally relaxed and will wear boys’ plain navy stretch board shorts, or athletic shorts (also from the boys’ department!) Try to find them in pink, forget it!

As for these swimsuits, I don’t love the print but the one-piece is fine and modest. I don’t like 2 pieces on little girls — unless the top is a rash guard or a full coverage tank top that meets the top of the bottom piece.

Saying that I did have a bikini when I was five that I ADORED. It was pink and white with yellow bees, and the bottom was sort of a ruffled skirt. Looking at photos, it was the sturdiest bikini I’ve ever seen in my life – I don’t think anyone could have considered it provocative. It was just cute.

But I do know times have changed. When I was in junior high (ok, it was a while ago) all of my friends were scandalized that a girl wore a string bikini to a pool party. She was probably 13 at the time. Her bathing suit was gossiped about for days and not in a good way!

I have a six year old girl and, trust me, there are issues. They are just quieter and more sinister than the ones boys face (for example, all that mean girl high school cattiness starts WAY before high school) and no one is trying to push boys into growing up too fast. These suits aren’t any worse than the other things out there but the other things out there are already terrible, so that isn’t saying much. I just think there are a million reasons to cover our little girls up – sun safety, perverts, simply keeping them young – and nothing to gain from shoving them into bikinis. My girls both wear bikini bottoms with rash guard tops. They don’t get burned and they are free to have fun without inheriting any of the body insecurity that so often comes along with swim season.

Completely agree with you. Let’s face it, animal print is fun, and kids like fun things. I have less of a problem seeing it on a 5 year old than a 50 year old.

The bad stuff out there is so well publicized that I think we forget that it’s always been this way. Unfortunately pedophiles have always existed, and I don’t think their deviant desires have anything to do with how a child dresses.

In some ways I feel sorry for the kids of today and the freedoms they’ve lost because of parental fears. When I was a child it was common to see little girls on the beach with no tops on at all. The attitude was that boobs are sexual, and little girls don’t have boobs so until they do there’s nothing to hide.

funny that you say that. As a woman in her late 20s when I see animal print on adults, I always think it looks more acceptable than on the young. I guess it’s cuz I think animal print is tacky and dated.

My daughters wear two pieces cause it is so much easier for both diapers and potty in general. BUT they consist of a rash guard shirt and either cute boyshort bottoms or bikini bottoms. I just don’t need them exposed to that much sun let alone all the shifting suit do on the beach or in the water.

I don’t see the sense in a string bikini for a young girl? How on earth does one keep a string bikini bottom on, say, a 4-yr-old girl who is actually playing and swimming in the water? Or keep some naughty kid from yanking on the strings for fun?

Not a fan of sexualizing little girls. Ever. Remember Abercrombie and Finch last year with their padded push up bikini tops for little girls? And please please please: no disturbing sexy nurse/genie/pirate/witch/angel costumes for the little girls this year. Ugh.

I have a question about bikinis for toddlers that has nothing to do with sexualizing little girls.

I have three 23 month old girls, and I live in Florida. Obviously, I spend a LOT of time applying sunscreen to my girls, especially when we’re at a pool or water park. Why on earth would you choose a 2 piece for a kid that isn’t old enough to apply their own sunscreen? That is so much more space you have to cover! It doubles your work!

Thank you! That’s actually a really helpful answer. We’ve been looking at the spray-on sunscreens and they seem so much easier, but we’ve been worried about the spray winding up in their eyes or mouths. Do you use a separate sunscreen lotion on their faces? Plus when they’re in the strollers and we just want to do their legs we figured the spray would get all over the strollers’ seats. We have to carry enough junk with all three of them I’d hate to have to carry two kinds of sunscreen.

It’s really hard with girls… because when I was 10, wanting my first cute bikini, my mom (& all adults) look at it in a sexual way. When all I wanted was to look cute like my friends. I wasn’t even really self aware of my ‘body’ at that point.

So the thing to consider is what parents feel comfortable letting other adults see of their children’s bodies. My mom always knew she was being overly strict about a lot of things, but the biggest battles were over bathing suits & shorts. This was the 90′s when the ‘denim thong’ shorts were the huge ‘in-thing’. xD

I do have to share… When I was 5, I wandered away from my mom in a department store, & a man grabbed me & threw me over his shoulder, bolting for the outside doors. I wasn’t dressed in an exposed or sexual way, but that didn’t mean anything. (I thank God every day that a clerk heard my screaming & realized it wasn’t just a kid pitching a fit. He dropped me & took off. Never caught him.

I’m just saying that being covered up won’t always protect your children, & whether they are (covered) or not, it likely makes very little difference to a pedophile. It’s the adults you let around them that’s way more important than the bikini or one piece argument.

This topic is a pet peeve of mine. I have a 21 month old girl, and am always so dismayed at the clothing choices for young girls. Why is the clothing industry so intent on making our girls grow up so fast? I love ‘little girl’ clothes–I don’t want to dress my toddler like a teenager or adult. Some of the clothes for young girls are downright trampy.

I will admit that my daughter wears a 2 pc swimsuit–she’s extremely tall (and lean) for her age and I literally couldn’t find any 1pc suits that fit her. But she only swims in family backyards with a swimmy vest. My personal opinion is 2pc suits are ok on toddlers, but then not ok again well into teenage years. I don’t mind the leopard print, but Hurley’s bikinis look too unnecessarily skimpy and ‘sexy’ for grade school age girls. The pink top on the right is so tiny! And string bikini bottoms on kids just seem extremely impractical to me–running around and jumping off diving boards in a string bikini bottom is just asking for a wardrobe malfunction.

GAP kids, Oilily, they used to have the cutest clothes for girls. It has stayed with her, she hates those clothes and stores, is pretty modest and detests sl-t-o-ween as much as I do. You can look cute while NOT looking slutty. Even in a bikini. I’m thinking ruffled bottoms and tank type tops.

I had to talk her into wearing a bikini this year and she’s horrified to see her cousin’s FB page with her ass hanging out of shorts and boobs falling out of bandeau tops. So yes, you can wear a bikini and still be modest.

The thing that drives me nuts with little girls clothing is that they cut them like women’s. Little girl jeans come in bootcut, lowrise…..umm she doesn’t have a waist or hips yet! So what is the benefit of that style? It just baffles me plus low rise makes her undies show. I inadvertantly bought a pair online and she wouldn’t wear them “because they don’t pull all the way up.”

Limited Too was a slut store?? Sorry, but I find your judgmental comments to be ignorant. I purchased clothing at Limited Too for both of my daughters, and none of the clothing was slutty, skimpy or anything other than cute, quality clothes. Maybe they had a ‘slut section’ and we just didn’t shop from that section? I bought clothing for my girls from the Gap as well. I had no idea I was buying slut clothing from one store and proper clothing from the other.

I have several daughters and here’s my solution: MAIL ORDER. We don’t do skimpy bathing suits or short shorts. They wear fashionable clothes from catalogs and websites. I don’t drag them to the mall where they will see things I don’t want them wearing. I order their clothes, they come in a big box, and it’s like opening a birthday gift. They are conscious of what other girls are wearing, but know what is off limits for them. You can get cute one pieces with style for the beach. You can get shorts that come to mid-thigh. Mail order and websites. Simple as that. If you instill self-respect in them, and give them some choices, you can raise girls with both confidence AND modesty.

I have a 6 year old girl and almost everything she wears comes from The Children’s Place online. I was so happy to find they carry shorts that go to the knees. I’m not a prude, by any means, but I’m not going to dress my little girl like a hootchie mama.

And let’s not forget Elizabeth Hurley is a woman who became famous only for wearing a dress (to her boyfriends premiere, not hers) held together with safety pins. This is not a woman famous for any talent whatsoever, only showing skin. She is not one to take fashion advice from. At all.

I bought my daughter a swimsuit (bikini) at Justice over the summer & it had boob pads in it. WTF?? My daughter was all “mommy, what are these for?” lol Thankfully they were removable but what 9 year old needs to enhance their chest?!?!

In all fairness, I think sometimes those ‘pads’ are offered more as extra lining. Some girls start developing young, and having the option to keep those little pads in can be helpful. They came in some little sport-type bras I bought my 10 year old recently, and after trying the bras with and without the little pads, she decided she felt more comfortable with them in. I don’t think they make much difference size-wise, but she seems to feel a bit more covered and protected.

I always put my girls in a rash guard and bikini bottom until they got old enough to protest. Now at 9 and 10, they wear a 1 piece or tankini to the pool. I am not opposed to a bikini with good coverage, but they struggle enough with the sun screen that I can’t see either one of them wanting to smear it all over their stomach.

When I was little, I wore two pieces, but the tops looked like sports bras, they weren’t triangle shaped. I think a triangle shaped, like these, are weird on little girls. But then when my hit puberty, my mom would only let me wear tankinis and one pieces.

Agree about the triangle tops… they seem too grown up, and they are difficult to keep in place on little girls who aren’t even developed yet. There are bikinis with better coverage, that stay in place… and tankinis are a great option as well.

I have two daughters, and I found one piece suits to be a major hassle when they were young. From the diaper years… through potty training… and then some. Having to pull off a wet one piece every time a little one needs to go potty is a pain the butt (and sometimes really, really difficult… lol).

Mother of four girls here. We don’t do bikinis, but have found plenty of cute tankinis and one-pieces out there, as well as other hip, modest fashions. Discount retailers make cheaper (in all senses of the word) clothes, hence their popularity, but with some patience you can score deals on modest clothes.

As for the Liz-kinis, they’re not notably skimpier or sexier than the average too skimpy/sexy kid-wear. They’re also not notably cute or age-appropriate. But when you market a suit to girls “who want to look grown up,” you already know that. (I smell a PR stunt.)

My humble advice to parents is to set your modesty standards young, consistently enforce them with love, lead by example and talk openly about bodies and sexuality from birth.

As I tell my teens, “If you have to use your body to get a boy, he will leave you for another body.” (Or as my 14-year-old so delicately puts it, “If you show it, he assumes you’ll share it.”)

Kids should be able to wear bikinis. I wore one as a child. I loved running around with barely any clothing on in the summer. I grew up on a lake with open fields all around. We spent dawn to dusk getting in and out of the lake and exploring the surroundings. Little bikinis were great because they dried quickly and you could throw a top or shorts on without having to go home change. There’s nothing wrong with these suits. The problem lies in the fact that we even have to question whether it’s appropriate because of the perverts who have made us think that way. It’s also interesting to note that kids can no longer roam free like I did because well all have to fear the same perverts who might accost our children.

I agree with your friend Celebitchy. Let’s deal with the perverts who make this an issue, not the innocent kids who wear cute bathing suits.

I have 2 little girls and have to say that these don’t really bother me. We live in southwest France and I see kids in suits smaller than these all. the. time. Perhaps I’m also a little jaded from a trip to Italy this summer, where they also sell 2-piece swimsuits for baby and toddler girls. What’s so scandalous about that, you ask? The 2 pieces were a bikini bottom and a sunhat! I LOLed.

I don’t have an issue with these suits, as a kid (under 4) in Australia I used to run around the beach just in bottoms, no top! As I got older we wore bikini’s then one-pieces. I’m not sure if it’s just an Australian thing but these days most kids, boys & girls, wear rash shirts over their swimmers & can even wear an all-in-one suit with a zipper down the front, like a wetsuit but made out of the same material as their swimmers (not wetsuit material) it’s much better sun protection which living here is needed!

There is nothing ‘sexy’ about a little girl wearing a bikini, and if you think there is, YOU are the problem.
Pedophiles are by definition attracted to CHILDREN…Not children in bikinis or miniskirts, just children in general…so it’s less about what your child is wearing and more about who is there.

Agree 100% Laura. My main concern with swimwear and my daughters has been that it stays on when they are playing, yet doesn’t require a lengthy battle to take it off when going to the bathroom. Oh, and we like it to be kind of cute too(;

You make a great point, but I think modest kids fashion isn’t just about keeping pedophiles from drooling. (Which as you mentioned, isn’t solely dependent on clothing choice.) For me, clothes that are mimicking adult fashions that are meant to make someone look/feel sexy are bad because they are sending girls a message that looking/feeling sexy is all that matters.

Almost as soon as my girls have started preschool, they have come home and said something like, “Do I look really skinny in this?” or “How old do I look in this?” because there is a cultural emphasis on sexy perfection. It’s scary.

So while I don’t think the bikini vs. one-piece debate is the ultimate parental decision, I do think modesty is a very important issue. In a world where young women are plagued with body image issues, low self-esteem and peer pressure, it does make a difference if you teach them to love and respect their body and dress it appropriately dependent on their age or the situation.

I can definitely agree that girls are subjected to judgment of appearance by their peers pretty much as soon as they start elementary school these days. Like on ‘Toddlers & Tiaras’, the little girls are made to dress & act like miniature adults.

Then puberty & everything pretty much goes to hell as insecure girls judge themselves & others over things like chest size, & making fun of those who don’t ‘fit’ the ‘ideal’.

Modesty is a virtue, of course. So long as a girl isn’t ‘modest’ because she has self esteem issues regarding her body. I know I experienced that a lot from Middle school onwards.

Boys have everything SO much easier… The only physical characteristic they’re all hung up on doesn’t cast a shadow over everyday life like it does for girls.

I definitely see your point. My only message was that the way your child is dressed won’t protect them from someone dangerous (that goes for -all- ages.

My daughter usually swims at a family pool, and it was a struggle just to get her to wear bottoms when she turned 3. Away from the family pool, she only wears a shorts-type bottom and a triangle bikini top because she HATES the way wet fabric feels on her belly and chest. I have to fight just to keep that little bit of fabric on her. I’m WAY more concerned about her butt hanging out (thus the shorts) than anything for a top that doesn’t exist. So many of my friends daughters go around all summer in suits where HALF their butts are hanging out. THAT seems odd to me.

I do have a little girl and I wouldn’t buy these. The one piece isn’t terrible, but I still don’t love animal print for little girls. The bikini’s are too skimpy, esp the one on the older girl. My daughter’s only 3, so I look for cutesy little girl stuff. When she gets older, I will give her some say in the choice of suit, but I still wouldn’t put these in the choices.